Bangalore!

Pretty much every vacation that Liz and I ever took together included massive amounts of shopping, so when we began planning this vacation of course we had to plan a trip to Bangalore! Of course we both had people we wanted to meet there as well, but a large portion of the time in Bangalore was scheduled for shopping.

The problem, however, lies in the use of the word 'scheduled'. All through the trip, Liz faithfully kept a schedule of the people we wanted meet, our available times, and the things we wanted to see and do (including shopping!) Every time we had to reschedule something (due to illness, someone's change in plans, or whatever) she made sure to pull out her calendar and figure out a new time for the event. I am deeply indebted to her for her organization or else I am sure we wouldn't have gotten to do half of the things we wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was in Bangalore where we really saw the schedule break down. Pretty much everything we scheduled in got postponed, changed, or cancelled and though we attempted to squeeze it all in at the end, the reality was that we only had 4 days in Bangalore, and we missed out on a few things.

The problem with the schedule was a source of endless amusement for some of our friends and prompted philosophical discussions between the two of us as to whether it was even realistic to try and keep a schedule in India. It was, by the end of the trip, a vivid reminder of what living in India is like, in terms of the fluidity of time.

Anyway, we did get to do several things we wanted to do while in Bangalore. Of course there were several instances of shopping! We got to see He's Just Not That Into You; a chance for us to laugh through a chick-flick together (a rarity since we currently live on opposite sides of the country!) [Read Liz' blog for a more thorough description of that] And we got to hang out at Mocha with several of our friends. (Even though the poutine is not as good as at the Mocha in Chennai!)

Liz & Shirmeen wondering how to use these forks in the poutine!

Ahmed & I relaxing with a hookah!

India Strikes Back!

Alternative title: Am I Getting Old?

After 3 days of celebrating the wedding, Liz & I managed to drag ourselves back to Chennai. And I really mean drag. I don't know what's going on-it seemed to take a long time to get over the jet lag this time (and I don't know if I feel that I'm completely over it at this point in the trip!) Maybe I am getting old. I did celebrate a birthday on this trip:

Maybe it has more to do with the bout with the infamous 'Delhi Belly' that I had. Now granted when I lived in India there were a couple of times that I had stomach problems, but I don't remember anything quite this bad! I guess I should have been more careful about the food I ate and the water I drank-my body's just not used to it anymore! Hopefully this clears up soon so that I can enjoy our time in Bangalore!

The Wedding, Day 3: The Valima (Reception)

A.K.A. Happy Valentine's Day!

The valima was the shortest of all the days we spent at the wedding, partly due to our departure back to Chennai early the next morning and partly because, by this point, most of the ceremonies had been completed.



The bride arrived...


...and, finally, stood next to the groom as a wife (as opposed to a bride.)

Don't they make a handsome couple?!?!

After dinner, we had a turn to take photos with the couple:

We also took pictures with his cousins who looked after us so well during all the events!!!

But 3 days of late night celebrations and our impending early morning departure began to take it's toll. (Or maybe we're just getting old! *shudder*)

The Wedding, Day 2: The Wedding

Despite our late descent into slumber, Liz and I did manage to get up in time to head to the Charminar bazaar to purchase bangles to complement our outfits for the next two days of wedding functions. While we were there, the groom, his male relatives and the bride's male relatives went to the mosque to complete the marriage contract. The groom called me afterward to tell me he was now a married man, upon which I offered my heartiest congratulations!

In the evening, we decked ourselves out in our grandest outfits (with our new accessories!) And the winner is...(drum roll please):

The tie between the gaghra & the green sari was broken by the weighted votes of the groom & his mother! :)

That picture was taken as we were waiting for the groom to arrive. He soon arrived accompanied by much drumming and dancing:

Meanwhile, the bride sat posed on the stage, looking lovely:

I had to admire her fortitude because I don't know if I could sit, looking down, for hours and hours-especially with everyone looking at me!

After dinner, the groom joined the bride on stage as they shared their "first look" at each other under the veil.

They then posed for pictures, for the first time as a couple.

Here they are with his family & with us foreigners:

At the end of the night, the groom led the bride off to her new home & new family.

The Wedding, Day 1: Mehendi/Sanchak Dhamaka

I know many of you are dying to find out which outfit I wore to the actual wedding, but you will have to wait until Day 2. :)

Liz wrote about our train adventures to Hyderabad and I have nothing further to add to that. (But I recommend you read her description!) We arrived in Hyderabad in the morning on the first day of the wedding festivities. After getting settled in the hotel and relaxing for a couple of hours, we headed over to the groom's relatives' house to for the application of mehendi.

While this process was going on, we socialized with the women from his family while they were preparing gifts to be taken to the bride's house later that night. We were impressed by the clothing, accessories, sweets & snacks that were beautifully displayed and wrapped for the bride's family and guests. After the henna had dried and been washed off, my hands looked like this:

side note: The henna typically lasts around 2-3 weeks after the application. Parts of mine lasted until after I arrived home.

In the evening, we headed over to the bride's house, where we were warmly welcomed and made to feel comfortable by her family. This is a shot of the bride & her parents:

The groom's cousins' also looked out for us during all of the festivities. Here's a shot of Liz & I with one of the cousins:After dinner, the groom was brought in and the bride's family began to tease him by offering him sweets with chilies inside and other small pranks, while his family supported him and encouraged him to refuse their offerings. After that the groom and the bride posed for pictures (separately because they aren't officially married yet!) with all of their guests. Here we are with the groom and his brother:

The party lasted until 2:00 AM! With the sleeplessness of the train ride, the busy events of the day, and the plan of shopping in the morning (I always need more bangles!), Liz and I were quite ready to head back to our hotel and crash for the night!

Chennai

I'm confused as to how I'm supposed to feel being back in Chennai. What role am I supposed to play here? With what lens do I look at Chennai? As someone returning home? As a returning visitor? As a tourist? Before coming, Liz and I talked about how we wanted to be tourists on this trip-to take lots of pictures of things that we had just taken for granted before (whole families perched on the a motorcycle, cows, crowds, colorful scenes, etc.). But I'm not sure if I can totally be a tourist here. I have too much insider knowledge. I think I still have too much cynicism too.

I know I feel more like a tourist this time. I notice people staring at us a lot more than I used to. (Not that it didn't happen then, I think I had just learned to selectively ignore it!) But I also feel strangely connected to this place, or the people in this place. I felt the pull when a job possibility was mentioned to me. I felt the pull when I visited my former workplace and everyone thought I was returning instead of visiting. I felt the pull when listening to my friends talk about their future plans (weddings, babies).

I don't know. Maybe I'll be able to clear my head in a different city as we head off to Hyderabad for our friend's wedding.

On a lighter note, Liz is insisting that I post my fortune from the parrot as well.

I was a bit hesitant to get my fortune told because the last time I had it done, the parrot told me that I was would soon be blessed with a bouncing baby boy, which was not at all a comforting thought.

This time, however, was much better. Like Liz, I was reminded that Jesus is always with me. Then I was told that I'm friendly and gifted, but also moody, unpredictable, and easily angered. Despite that, I will have a successful career. Then he told me that I'm currently wondering if something is going to happen or not. He couldn't see whether it was going to happen or not, but if it did, it would happen in the next 5 weeks.

side note: as of this writing, it has been about 4 weeks since the parrot told my fortune. Thus, if it is going to happen, it has to be this week. Whatever "it" is.

Wow! Things CAN change in a short time in India!

As Liz said, Chennai was the first stop in our multi-city tour. We had a great time relaxing, meeting friends and, of course, shopping. [We have to look fabulously wonderful at the wedding, don't we???? :) ] One of the exciting parts of our roaming about was seeing all of the changes that have happened in Chennai since we left. For one, there are several new flyovers that have been built and/or completed. I was particularly surprised by the one in T. Nagar that wasn't even started when I left Chennai.











Even though the traffic was still heavy through the area, I could see how much the flyover improved the flow.

We were also excited to see the completion of the renovation of Old Mahabalipuram Road-the Tech Corridor. This project was started before we ever arrived in Chennai and often disrupted our travel to & from work when we worked at the Tidal Park office. Before I left, half of the renovation had been completed, but the second half was a dusty, rutted mess. The difference now is amazing!











More surprising, though, was the toll booth right outside of our former company's Perungudi office.


Along with the completion of the Tech Corridor renovation, we learned that the flying train was now running. When we were working at Tidal Park, we used to joke that we would come back to Chennai (for the inaugural trip!) in 10 years and be able to say, "We remember when this was being built. We thought that it would never be completed!" :) We actually planned to ride the train and take pictures for our blogs, but, unfortunately, that plan was derailed.

Preparation for India

I must say that the plane trip to India reminded me of many of the things I found frustrating about India-even starting out in JFK! I guess we shouldn't have been surprised, since we did fly Jet Airways, an Indian airline. (And Liz has vowed to never, ever fly with them again!) When Liz met me in JFK, we stood in line to see if we could change our seats in order to sit together on the onward flight. As we were standing in line, a Jet employee took our passports (with no explanation) to 'verify' them. Apparently everyone's passport needed to be inspected and verified before boarding, but that information wasn't deemed important enough to merit a general announcement-you had to be lucky enough to have the employee choose your passport to verify. When we got to the counter, another employee took our AA boarding passes and printed new Jet Airways boarding passes (again without bothering to explain anything). We found out later that we HAD to get new boarding passes to get on the plane, even though AA is a partner airline to Jet. [side note: the same did not apply upon our return-AA accepted my Jet boarding pass!]

Then, when we began to board the airplane, the ground staff announced that they would be boarding in rows and began to call off rows. Of course the only people who followed these directions were the white people, who remained in their seats while waiting for their rows to be called. The Indians all swarmed en mass, no matter which row they were seated in. I understand the mentality of Indians swarming for things when in India, I guess I just don't understand it when it still happens outside of India. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

The frustration didn't end, however, once we had boarded the plane. When we booked this flight, it was billed as a non-stop flight, with a brief refueling stop in Brussels. We assumed it would be a relatively quick stop and we would remain on the plane. Well, you know what they say about assuming... Upon arrival, everyone had to disembark from the plane. We were a bit concerned since we didn't have a separate boarding pass for Brussels. Then, we were a bit annoyed to find out that we didn't re-board the plane for over an hour. I'm sorry, but anytime you have to get off the plane and wait for more than an hour in the airport constitutes a LAYOVER and does NOT constitute a non-stop flight.

Luckily, the rest of the trip went smoothly. Oh, except for the crew IGNORING us (passing us by with the drink cart several times). And the entertainment system not working (and the crew not believing us that everyone on our side of the plane was having the same problem!) And them only having vegetarian food by the time they did get around to serving us. It was a RELIEF to finally land in Chennai!